DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS - 3RD AUGUST 2019- 10 MOST IMPORTANT TOPICS FROM THE HINDU

IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR TODAY 

                         http://dailycurrentaffairs-sumit.blogspot.com
                                       

BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ                           3rd August 2019

1.Rajya Sabha: UAPA Bill passed 

(Gs-2)

• Context:After a heated debate, the Rajya Sabha on Friday approved crucial amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, allowing the Centre and States to designate individuals as terrorists and seize their property.
• The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill that seeks to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, was passed by the Rajya Sabha with 147 votes in favour and 42 against. The Congress and the BSP supported the Bill. The House earlier rejected the opposition-sponsored motion to send the amendment to a select committee with 104 votes against and 85 in favour. The Congress had voted in favour of this motion. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on July 24.
• The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill:
• The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Amit Shah, on July 8, 2019. The Bill amends the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.  The Act provides special procedures to deal with terrorist activities, among other things.
• Who may commit terrorism: Under the Act, the central government may designate an organisation as a terrorist organisation if it: (i) commits or participates in acts of terrorism, (ii) prepares for terrorism, (iii) promotes terrorism, or (iv) is otherwise involved in terrorism.  The Bill additionally empowers the government to designate individuals as terrorists on the same grounds.   
• Approval for seizure of property by NIA: Under the Act, an investigating officer is required to obtain the prior approval of the Director General of Police to seize properties that may be connected with terrorism.  The Bill adds that if the investigation is conducted by an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the approval of the Director General of NIA would be required for seizure of such property.  
• Investigation by NIA: Under the Act, investigation of cases may be conducted by officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or above.  The Bill additionally empowers the officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, to investigate cases.
• Insertion to schedule of treaties: The Act defines terrorist acts to include acts committed within the scope of any of the treaties listed in a schedule to the Act.  The Schedule lists nine treaties, including the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings (1997), and the Convention against Taking of Hostages (1979).  The Bill adds another treaty to the list.  This is the International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (2005).     

2.WHAT IS ANTI DEFECTION LAW AND WHY IS IT NEWS?   (GS-2)

• ITS IS IN THE NEWS BECAUSE Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Friday disqualified rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra under the anti-defection law.
• ANTI DEFECTION LAW :
• The Tenth Schedule of Indian Constitution is popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act. Original constitution had no such provisions. It was included in the Constitution in 1985 by the Rajiv Gandhi government. The main intent of the law was to deter “the evil of political defections” by legislators motivated by the lure of office or other similar considerations.
• What is anti-defection law?
• The Tenth Schedule of Indian Constitution is popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act. Original constitution had no such provisions. It was included in the Constitution in 1985 by the Rajiv Gandhi government. The main intent of the law was to deter “the evil of political defections” by legislators motivated by the lure of office or other similar considerations.
• What are the grounds for disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law?
• a) If an elected member voluntarily gives up his membership of a political party;
• b) If he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by his political party or anyone authorised to do so, without obtaining prior permission.
• As a pre-condition for his disqualification, his abstention from voting should not be condoned by his party or the authorised person within 15 days of such incident. 
• Points to be noted regarding anti-defection:
• Articles 102 (2) and 191 (2) deals with anti-defection.
• The intention of the provision is to check the corruption/horse trading in parliament/ to check the popular phenomenon “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram “ in the Indian polity which started in 1960’s . Note: The intention was never “to bring stability” to governments.
• The law disallows MPs/ MLAs to switch parties after elections, make the members follow the whips issued by their party.
• It also applies to a nominated member if he/ she joins a political party after 6 months of nomination and to an independent candidate if he/she joins a party after the election.
• Refer the parliament handbook if you need to know the detailed provisions of anti-defection.

3.Census may skip caste count  (GS-2)

• CONTEXT:Census 2021 is unlikely to collect “caste wise” data as a similar exercise conducted in 2011 by another ministry threw up about 40 lakh caste names that were difficult to tabulate, a senior government official said on Friday.
• The decennial exercise would involve 31 lakh trained enumerators, with data collected digitally using Android based mobile phones.
• The Census data would be available by the year 2024-25 as the entire process would be conducted digitally and data crunching would be quicker, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
• The 2011 caste data, collected as part of the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC), is yet to be released by the Centre. As per the National Commission for Backward Classes, there are 2,479 entries in the Central list of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
• CENSUS 2012:
• Union Home Ministry has announced that Census 2021 for the first time in independent India will collect data on Other Backwards Castes (OBCs). This comes more than 25 years after implementation of 27% reservation for OBCs based on Mandal Commission’s recommendations on basis of last castes data collected in 1931 census. 
• This decision was taken in meeting the roadmap for undertaking the Census in 2021 chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting also put special emphasis on improvements in design and technological interventions to ensure that data is finalised within three years of the conduct of the 2021 Census. This census data on OBCs will play an important role in such a sub-categorisation. 
• Background In 1953, President under Article 340 had set up first Backward Classes Commission under chairmanship of Kaka Kelkar to identify backward classes other than SCs and STs at the national level. But its conclusion that caste is important measure of backwardness was rejected on ground that it had failed to apply more objective criteria such as income and literacy.
•  Later in January 1979, second Backward Classes Commission headed by B P Mandal (famously known as Mandal Commission) was appointed by then Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai to consider the question of reservations for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine backwardness. 
• The Mandal Commission report had estimated OBC population at 52% and classified 1,257 communities as backward. It also had recommended increasing existing quotas, which were only for SC/ST, from 22.5% to 49.5% to include OBCs. Its recommendations including of reservation were implemented then V.P.Singh government in 1990, The previous UPA government (under PM Manmohan Singh) had accepted demand for caste-based enumeration and undertaken Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) in 2011. However, data from SECC-2011 conducted at cost of Rs 4,893.60 crore was not made public for certain errors identified by Registrar General of India.

4.Ramon Magsaysay Award    (GS-1)

• WHAT IS THIS AWARD AND WHY IS IT IN NEWS?
• Ravish Kumar on Friday was awarded this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award
• Ramon Magsaysay Award:
• The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government. The award is internationally-recognized as the Nobel Prize counterpart of Asia and is the highest award given to Asian individuals and organizations.

5.Explaining the Asian rate cuts wave

(GS-3)

• ACCORDING TO WRITER OF THE LEAD ARTICLE Policy makers across Asia should ensure enough ammunition to manage a prolonged economic downturn
• The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Economic Outlook update in July 2019 has confirmed a growing belief that global growth has decelerated and dark clouds seem to be looming in the near term. Specifically, the IMF has downgraded global growth multiple times since October 2018 and now projects it to be 3.2% compared to 3.6% in 2018.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Economic Outlook :
• World Economic Outlook Reports
• A Survey by the IMF staff usually published twice a year. It presents IMF staff economists' analyses of global economic developments during the near and medium term. Chapters give an overview as well as more detailed analysis of the world economy; consider issues affecting industrial countries, developing countries, and economies in transition to market; and address topics of pressing current interest. Annexes, boxes, charts, and an extensive statistical appendix augment the text.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)-
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF), also known as the Fund, is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.Formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference primarily by the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, it came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international payment system. It now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises.Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion (about $667 billion)
• Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country, generally the central bank, controls the supply of money in the economy by its control over interest rates in order to maintain price stability and achieve high economic growth.[1] In India, the central monetary authority is the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It is designed to maintain the price stability in the economy. Other objectives of the monetary policy of India, as stated by RBI, are:
• Price Stability
• Price Stability implies promoting economic development with considerable emphasis on price stability. The centre of focus is to facilitate the environment which is favourable to the architecture that enables the developmental projects to run swiftly while also maintaining reasonable price stability.
• Controlled Expansion Of Bank Credit
• One of the important functions of RBI is the controlled expansion of bank credit and money supply with special attention to seasonal requirement for credit without affecting the output.
• Promotion of Fixed Investment
• The aim here is to increase the productivity of investment by restraining non essential fixed investment.
• Restriction of Inventories and stocks
• Overfilling of stocks and products becoming outdated due to excess of stock often results in sickness of the unit. To avoid this problem, the central monetary authority carries out this essential function of restricting the inventories. The main objective of this policy is to avoid over-stocking and idle money in the organisation.
• To Promote Efficiency
• It is another essential aspect where the central banks pay a lot of attention. It tries to increase the efficiency in the financial system and tries to incorporate structural changes such as deregulating interest rates, easing operational constraints in the credit delivery system, introducing new money market instruments, etc.
• Reducing the Rigidity
• RBI tries to bring about flexibilities in operations which provide a considerable autonomy. It encourages more competitive environment and diversification. It maintains its control over financial system whenever and wherever necessary to maintain the discipline and prudence in operations of the financial system.
• Sovereign bond
• A government bond or sovereign bond is a bond issued by a national government, generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments called coupon payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date. The aim of a government bond is to support government spending

6.The taproot of conservation justice

(GS-3)

• ACCORDING TO THE WRITER OF THR ARTICLE Cutting down the Forests Right Act will only weaken the conservation regime and affect the rights of forest dwellers AND ALSO:
• The Forest Rights Act (FRA) is a piece of social legislation which aims to address the historical injustice that our forest dwelling communities have had to face for nearly 150 years by providing them with security of tenure over land for cultivation and habitation through individual rights. It also provides access to a variety of resources through more than a dozen types of community forest rights. The FRA also empowers forest dwelling communities to protect, regenerate, conserve and manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use. It has the provision for creating critical wildlife habitats within protected areas which currently is the strongest conservation provision among existing laws of the country.
• The FRA has been savagely criticised as a land distribution legislation, which it is not. The FRA very clearly states that forest dwellers who are either Scheduled Tribes or Other Traditional Forest Dwellers are only entitled to claim both individual and community forest rights through a clear process of submitting a claim and after its verification and subsequent approval or rejection. For the rejected cases, an appeal process has been outlined. The FRA aims to only confirm tenure and access rights which in some sense the forest dwellers have been exercising de facto but under severe restrictions and control especially by the forest department. In fact, it is the failure of the state to settle pre-existing rights under existing forest and conservation laws that created the situation of historical injustice.
• The FRA does not sanction any fresh clearance of forest, as individual rights over land will only be granted if the forest dweller was in possession of that parcel of land on December 13, 2005. It also limits the extent of land that can be granted to the area that was occupied on December 13, 2005 and places an upper limit of four hectares per claimant for individual rights. These provisions are often overlooked or deliberately suppressed by those who criticise FRA.

7.India again rejects Trump’s Kashmir mediation offer                                   ( GS-2)

• CONTEXT: India’s foreign minister said he told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that any discussion of the disputed Himalayan region would be between India and Pakistan only. The two men met on Friday on the sidelines of an Asian security forum in Bangkok. India has long refused outside attempts to resolve the conflict while Pakistan has sought international help.
• In a brief statement about the meeting, the State Department did not mention Kashmir or the mediation offer. It said Pompeo and Jaishankar “discussed our shared commitment to upholding the rule of law, freedom of navigation, and democratic values in the Indo-Pacific region.”
• Trump said last month that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently asked him whether he would like to be a mediator or arbitrator on Kashmir, which has been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan, something New Delhi has denied. Trump reiterated his offer to intervene on Thursday, telling reporters he is willing to mediate but a decision would be up to Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
• The External Affairs Minister was in Bangkok to attend the ASEAN India Ministerial Meeting, the 9th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the 26th ASEAN Regional Forum and the 10th Mekong Ganga Cooperation Ministerial Meeting.
• ASEAN Regional Forum :
• ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
• Established in 1994, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is an important platform for security dialogue in the Indo-Pacific. It provides a setting in which members can discuss current security issues and develop cooperative measures to enhance peace and security in the region.
• The ARF is characterised by consensus-based decision-making and frank dialogue. It comprises 27 members: the 10 ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam); the 10 ASEAN dialogue partners (Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States); Bangladesh, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste; and one ASEAN observer (Papua New Guinea).

8.U.S. formally withdraws from INF arms treaty    (GS-1,2)

• CONTEXT:
• The U.S. and Russia terminated a Cold War­era missile pact on Friday in a move that raised the spectre of an arms race between the global superpowers. The 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty limited the use of medium range missiles, both conventional and nuclear. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced U.S. withdrawal in a statement at the ASEAN meet in Bangkok, minutes after Russia pronounced the treaty to be “dead”
• Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty :
• The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (and its successor state, the Russian Federation). U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the treaty on 8 December 1987. The United States Senate approved the treaty on 27 May 1988, and Reagan and Gorbachev ratified it on 1 June 1988.
• The INF Treaty banned all of the two nations' land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of 500–1,000 kilometers (310–620 mi) (short medium-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (620–3,420 mi) (intermediate-range). The treaty did not apply to air- or sea-launched missiles.By May 1991, the nations had eliminated 2,692 missiles, followed by 10 years of on-site verification inspections

9.Kashmir parties warn against plan to remove Article 35A           ( GS-2)

• CONTEXT:J&K parties on Friday warned the Centre against any dilution in the constitutional status of J&K, and sought the government’s clarification on the current “hysteria” in Parliament.
• ABOUT ARTICLE 35 A:
• Article 35A of the Indian Constitution is an article that allows the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define “permanent resident” of the state. It was added to the Constitution through a situationary Presidential Order, i.e., The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 – issued by the President of India on 14 May 1954, exercising the powers conferred by the clause (1) of the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and with the concurrence of the Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.A debate is going on to abrogate Article 35A. However, if Article 35A is abrogated it may lead to constitutional crisis. Article 35A is a bridge between India and Kashmir relation. Any dilution with the Article will lead to violation of whole Presidential Order 1954 which supersedes Presidential Order 1950 and Kashmir will become an autonomous state as it was Pre-1954 restricting Indian relationship to Kashmir on three folds - Communication, Defense and Foreign Affairs

10.NRC:          (GS-2)

• MANY  NEWS ARTICLE RELATED TO NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZEN SO LETS HAVE A REVISION:
• About National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam:
• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the list of Indian citizens of Assam. It was prepared in 1951, following the census of 1951.
• For a person’s name to be included in the updated NRC list of 2018, he/ she will have to furnish:
• Existence of name in the legacy data: The legacy data is the collective list of the NRC data of 1951 and the electoral rolls up to midnight of 24 March 1971.
• Proving linkage with the person whose name appears in the legacy data.
• Why was it updated?
• The process of NRC update was taken up in Assam as per a Supreme Court order in 2013. In order to wean out cases of illegal migration from Bangladesh and other adjoining areas, NRC updation was carried out under The Citizenship Act, 1955, and according to rules framed in the Assam Accord.
• Why is March 24, 1971 the cut-off date?
• There have been several waves of migration to Assam from Bangladesh, but the biggest was in March 1971 when the Pakistan army crackdown forced many to flee to India. The Assam Accord of 1985 that ended the six-year anti-foreigners’ agitation decided upon the midnight of March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date.
• Who is a citizen in Assam?
• The Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended after the Assam Accord for all Indian-origin people who came from Bangladesh before January 1, 1966 to be deemed as citizens. Those who came between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971 were eligible for citizenship after registering and living in the State for 10 years while those entering after March 25, 1971, were to be deported.
• 
  

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